More Images

Related Links

Lakeland Man Gets Life for Deadly Drive-by Shooting

An 11-year-old boy was left paralyzed in the 2011 Lakeland shooting.

Alejandro Baez-Garcia enters Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen's courtroom for sentencing on Thursday at the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow. Baez-Garcia was given a life sentence for the January 2011 shooting death of Juan Castillo in Lakeland. He was also found guilty of attempted second-degree murder for shooting Castillo's 11-year-old brother in the lower back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

PAUL CRATE | LEDGER MEDIA GROUP

By JASON GEARYTHE LEDGER

Published: Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 12:10 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 12:10 p.m.

BARTOW | A 20-year-old Lakeland man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for a 2011 drive-by shooting that left one man dead and an 11-year-old boy paralyzed.

A jury on Dec. 6 found Alejandro Baez-Garcia guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of 19-year-old Juan Castillo.

Baez-Garcia also was charged with attempted first-degree murder for shooting Castillo's younger brother, Jake, who was struck in the back and paralyzed from the waist down.

However, jurors found Baez-Garcia guilty of a lesser charge in the boy's shooting: attempted second-degree murder.

Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen had no choice but to impose a mandatory life sentence for Baez-Garcia's first-degree murder conviction. However, he could have opted to sentence Baez-Garcia to something less than life imprisonment for the attempted second-degree murder conviction.

Assistant State Attorney Hope Pattey urged the judge to impose another life sentence, saying Jake Castillo was an innocent bystander and Baez-Garcia's actions will cause the boy to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Jacobsen described Jake's injuries as "obviously severe" and sentenced Baez-Garcia to life in prison for the boy's attempted murder.

Baez-Garcia did not make a statement at Thursday's brief hearing.

The shooting took place the afternoon of Jan. 8, 2011, in the front yard of a home on West Parker Street in Lakeland. Investigators described the shooting as gang-related violence.

At trial, prosecutors told jurors that Baez-Garcia was riding with friends when he opened the van's sliding door and fired into the yard, hitting Juan Castillo.

Castillo was struck in the thigh and the back of the head and Jake was hit in his neck and spine.

Jake identified Baez-Garcia as the shooter.

Baez-Garcia's lawyers argued their client was acting in self-defense because people were gathering rocks and bricks to throw at the van.

Baez-Garcia told investigators that he was only trying to scare Castillo and others in the yard when he began firing a .22-caliber pistol, according to a transcript of his recorded statement.

[ Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]

<p>BARTOW | A 20-year-old Lakeland man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for a 2011 drive-by shooting that left one man dead and an 11-year-old boy paralyzed.</p><p>A jury on Dec. 6 found Alejandro Baez-Garcia guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of 19-year-old Juan Castillo.</p><p>Baez-Garcia also was charged with attempted first-degree murder for shooting Castillo's younger brother, Jake, who was struck in the back and paralyzed from the waist down.</p><p>However, jurors found Baez-Garcia guilty of a lesser charge in the boy's shooting: attempted second-degree murder.</p><p>Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen had no choice but to impose a mandatory life sentence for Baez-Garcia's first-degree murder conviction. However, he could have opted to sentence Baez-Garcia to something less than life imprisonment for the attempted second-degree murder conviction.</p><p>Assistant State Attorney Hope Pattey urged the judge to impose another life sentence, saying Jake Castillo was an innocent bystander and Baez-Garcia's actions will cause the boy to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.</p><p>Jacobsen described Jake's injuries as "obviously severe" and sentenced Baez-Garcia to life in prison for the boy's attempted murder.</p><p>Baez-Garcia did not make a statement at Thursday's brief hearing.</p><p>The shooting took place the afternoon of Jan. 8, 2011, in the front yard of a home on West Parker Street in Lakeland. Investigators described the shooting as gang-related violence.</p><p>At trial, prosecutors told jurors that Baez-Garcia was riding with friends when he opened the van's sliding door and fired into the yard, hitting Juan Castillo.</p><p>Castillo was struck in the thigh and the back of the head and Jake was hit in his neck and spine.</p><p>Jake identified Baez-Garcia as the shooter.</p><p>Baez-Garcia's lawyers argued their client was acting in self-defense because people were gathering rocks and bricks to throw at the van.</p><p>Baez-Garcia told investigators that he was only trying to scare Castillo and others in the yard when he began firing a .22-caliber pistol, according to a transcript of his recorded statement.</p><p> </p><p>[ Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]</p>